Since being established in 2008, IPL has seen a great fan following. In 2021, IPL had a viewership reach of 367 million. With the matches starting shortly for the 15th edition of IPL tournament, every fan is getting ready to see which team will bring in their A Game this year. Being one of the most followed tournament, fans update themselves of everything IPL, may it be the auction, player bidding or the team selection and let’s not forget the drama and the scandals.
Over the years IPL has seen a fair share of scandals revolving around IPL fixing. Keeping these incidents in mind the BCCI – The Board of Control for Cricket in India issued new anti corruption code for participants in 2019.
Let’s look at the various incidents over the years:
2013 – The first IPL spot fixing controversy
The first known scandal of IPL which led to suspension for 2 teams happened in 2013. Rajasthan Royals team players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police for IPL spot fixing while Chennai Super Kings Team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, Vindo Dara Singh and Priyank Sepani were arrested by Mumbai Police in a separate case for betting. While the investigation was underway, the teams suspended the involved parties and BCCI banned Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra from all future matches.
Later in 2015 a three member committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India banned Team Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings for a period of 2 years.
2017- Gujarat Lions controversy
Even with great talent, when Gujarat Lions performance put them in the lower half of the point table, everyone was a bit shocked. So when the news came out about fixers in the IPL being involved, it all started to make sense. In the confession, one of the bookies arrested mentioned asking accomplices to use acid on the Green Park Stadium pitch and moving the boundaries, leading to making it difficult for the team to score well. Police caught a couple of other bookies betting on Gujarat Lions vs Delhi Daredevils match during this time frame.
2019- Lalit Modi tweet about IPL 2019
When Lalit Modi, the former commissioner of IPL tweeted about the alleged IPL match fixing team, he shared a video in which the player could be heard talking about the next ball result.
Modi has been at the center of IPL controversy himself over suspicious initial bidding of 2 new IPL franchises and was ousted from the league for the same.
2020- Long list of IPL 2020 controversies
From Tom Curran DRS in the RR vs CSK match to DRS after third empire verdict in SRH vs KXIP match to corrupt approach reported by a player to ACU to IPL prediction on MI Twitter for DC score before the match, IPL 2020 was a mix of multiple scandals.
All these scandals have made the fans question about how many of the wins are based on IPL match fixing. Let’s see what IPL 2022 has in store.
